INVEST Conference kicks off in Morgantown

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) — The West Virginia Department of Education hosted 150 math teachers at University High School on Monday as it kicked off its northern INVEST Conference.

The Math INVEST sessions on Monday offered an intensive focus on instructional strategies and best practices.

July 1 marked the implementation of the revised West Virginia College and Career Readiness Standards for Mathematics, and 2023’s passage of House Bill 3055 by the state legislature means that a career-based mathematics course must now be offered in West Virginia high schools. The new course is called the Introduction to Mathematical Applications.

“I think this course really is meeting a need for students that are not college-bound. So, we have a population of students that are not headed on to college, and this really meets a need for them that those other courses prepare students for the college-bound world, this prepares students for those that are focused on a career. So, it gets them that ability to really master skills that will prepare them for their next step,” INVEST Conference Facilitator Michael Harshbarger said.

“Math is everywhere. Math is in everything that we do, and so the more that we can make connections between math and the world around us, it’s going to make a better experience for our students,” West Virginia Department of Education Coordinator Tim Flatley said.

The course prepares educators to teach career-based mathematical applications and ensure they are aligned with the 16 Career Technical Education (CTE) clusters in West Virginia in order to get students better prepared for the skilled workforce after graduation.

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